Cheesy Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread

A weird thing happens when you become involved in the catering business.  You begin to hate, detest, even loathe your own food.  After week in and week out of making the same things over and over, the monotony of it all starts to get to you.  Tasting the same flavors, sniffing the same smells- it can become almost unbearable.  There was a time when I truly felt that if I had to look at even one more crab cake or caramel bar, I might just lose it.

Luckily for me, I’ve been out of the catering grind for almost a year and a half now, and oddly enough, I’ve been finding myself craving some of those dishes that I at one point used to abhor.  Crab cakes are once again becoming desirable.  I enjoyed making that batch of caramel bars a few weeks ago.  As of last week, I even succumbed to my craving for Cheesy Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread.

Perfect Popovers with Strawberry Butter

Somehow, someway, the holiday season is already in full swing.  I feel like it was just summer time, as if I was just running errands in flip flops and out walking Dexter in shorts and a tank top.  Come to think of it, I was just wearing flip flops and tank tops.  I live in Arizona now, after all.  Unseasonably warm weather aside, December crept up on me this year.  2011 in general has been a whirlwind, but these last few months in particular have flown by.  I know that Christmas morning will be here before I know it, which means I better get a move on my Christmas shopping.

As much as I like buying the perfect gift for a loved one, I'd rather make someone's face light up through the perfect holiday meal instead.  Cooking in my kitchen, glass of wine in hand, is simply more enjoyable, as far as I'm concerned, than fighting the crowds at the mall during this time of year.

Growing up, my family spent Christmas Eve celebrating with several other families.  Each family provided a certain dish of either ham, dips, appetizers or a simple dessert.  The idea was to mix and mingle and munch.  Every Christmas morning my mom would make breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls, keeping the food simple so that she could spend as much time with my brother and I, helping us set up and play with our new toys Santa had so lovingly left beneath the tree.

As I get older, I am starting to think about the traditions I want to eventually instill in my family.  Do I want to go the way of a Christmas feast, complete with a roasted rack of lamb, or do I want to follow in my mother's footsteps, providing an uncomplicated, yet heart warming menu.  Knowing myself, I'll probably do a little bit of both.  But there is one item I know I'll include.  It has that impressive quality that I typically like to showcase, but it's also deceptively simple to make.  Enter the popover.

I can always count on popovers to induce "oohing and ahhing" from my guests.  Not only are popover's sky high heights a sight to behold, but they are also airy, eggy and simply delicious.  I usually serve popovers with a side of honey butter.  This time around, however, I thought I'd try something a little different, strawberry butter.  Boy, am I glad I did.  This butter helps popovers make the move from  simple side to main event, tasty enough to be served up as dessert.

Popovers with Strawberry Butter

Recipe Adapted from Neiman Marcus via Grouprecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups whole milk

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

6 large eggs, at room temperature

Strawberry Butter (recipe follows)

* special equipment: nonstick popover pan

Directions:

1. Place milk in a bowl or glass measuring cup and microwave for two minutes or until warm to the touch.  Set aside.

2. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together into a large bowl.  Crack eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until foamy.  Turn mixer speed down to low and gradually add the warm milk.  Next, gradually add the flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes.  Let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour. 

3. Preheat oven to 450º F.  Spray popever pan generously with nonstick spray.  Fill each well almost to the top with batter and place the popover pan on a cookie sheet.  Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn the heat down to 375º F and continue to bake for 10 minutes longer, until the popovers are deep golden brown.  Remove pan from oven, pop out the popovers and let cool on a wire rack.  Serve hot with Strawberry Butter. 

* There will be extra batter left over.  Just set aside and use once the first batch of popovers are finished.

Makes approximately 18 popovers

Strawberry Butter

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature

1/2 cup good quality strawberry preserves

Directions:

1. Place butter in a medium sized bowl and beat with an electric mixture until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the strawberry preserves and continue to beat until fluffy, about 2 more minutes. 

Banana Nut Bread

I am, without a doubt, my mother's daughter. I am like her in so many ways, it's frightening. One of my favorite traits that I've inherited from my mom, is my undeniable desire to always play the role of the hostess. Not that I'm perpetually throwing fabulous dinner parties (though I see plenty of those in my near future), no, it's more about playing that "Suzy Homemaker" role and accommodating my guests. So when I received the joyous news that my best friend was coming to visit me in New York for a long weekend, I of course felt the urgent need to bake something from scratch- something that we could nibble on in the mornings when we were too, um... tired (certainly not hungover) to go out and grab breakfast. I always enjoy trying different bread recipes, but banana bread is by far my favorite. It's hard not to like it; banana bread is one of those classic, comforting crowd pleasers. 

I go through these phases where I become obsessed with a particular type of food. Last winter it was coconut macaroons, this summer, barbecue. This past spring, however, it was all things banana. I think it all began with that fateful first bite of banana cake from Billy's Bakery. Seriously, I can not stress enough to you the divine essence of this cake. No joke, it made me weak in the knees, most likely due to the pillow of cream cheese frosting that sat upon it. If any of you reading this are from the New York area, you MUST go to this bakery. (I actually think their plain vanilla cupcakes are better than the ones at Magnolia, hands down). Anyways, throughout the course of my banana obsessed phase, I made several versions of banana bread- I don't know if I've ever actually made the same recipe twice. I guess I've been searching for that one perfect recipe, the one that beckons me every time I feel the craving for homemade banana bread coming on. 

Now, I wish I could say that my quest for the perfect banana bread was over. But if I'm going to be completely honest with you, and I will always try to be, I'll have to admit that chances are, I will be googling "banana bread recipes" again at some point. Don't get me wrong, the recipe below is definitely worth trying. It has a chewy, sweet crust and dense, moist center, with plenty of banana flavor to go around. It was incredibly easy to make too, which is always a bonus. Maybe the problem doesn't lie within this particular recipe at all, or any of the other banana bread recipes I've tried this year for that matter. Maybe the issue here is that the banana cake from Billy's Bakery has set the bar too high, at heavenly standards, and perhaps, I should bring my expectations back down to, say, a humanly accessible level. 

Banana Nut Bread

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Tip: This bread is better the day after it's baked.


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (try substituting 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour for a healthier option)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp, plus 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used a mixture of both)


Directions: 
Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with the 1 tablespoon of butter.  In a small ramekin, mix together the 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the  buttered loaf pan liberally with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 


In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and bananas. In a separate, smaller bowl, sift together the sugars, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir to combine. Add the nuts and stir again.


Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes.


Makes 12 servings